A Peek Into the Shadowcat Nation

Andromeda’s Fall is the first book of a new series called the Shadowcat Nation series.

The world building for this series came out of my research on mountain lions and their natures. They aren’t like African lions that live in prides. Rather, they are loners, stealthy and untrusting, apt to fight another cougar as much as any other animal when threatened. I wanted my shifters to reflect the natures of the wild animals they become.

Consequently I had to build a world that would force these natural loners into community resulting in both the external threat great enough to make them join forces and the internal threats resulting from their instincts.

To set the stage a little, here’s the intro for the book…

Thirty years ago the population of mountain lion shifters was on the brink of extinction. Today, much like their wild counterparts, shifters are running out of land and resources. The encroachment of man has resulted in the loss and destruction of shifters’ natural habitats world-wide. This external threat has led to a new reality where only the strongest survive. Pack shifters, such as wolves, coyotes, and African lions, use their coordinated family groups to pick off the loners, like cougars, in order to obtain their territory.

Going against their mysterious and cagey natures, mountain lion shifters banded together to form the Shadowcat Nation in order to pool their resources and protect themselves from the packs. Reaching from Northern Canada, across the United States, all the way down to the southern tip of South America, the Nation is divided into ten dares, each led by an Alpha who has clawed his way to the top. However, cougars don’t naturally work or live well in group societies, and the shifters are constantly battling their innate desire for domination and sole control, their animalistic instincts often triggering infighting and inter-dare rivalries.

The success of the Shadowcat Nation, though critical to the survival of all cougar shifters, still hangs in a delicate balance.

This is the world where we find Andromeda (Andie) Reynolds as she flees from her dare to request asylum with the Keller Dare. But inter-dare law means that unless she marries into the Keller Dare she can be extradited back to her people. Not only that…marrying the Alpha, Jaxon Keller himself, is possibly the only thing that would be enough to keep her safe. Now A.J., one of the Alpha’s Protects, is all that stands in the way.

*****

Get a sneak peek into this world. Read Hannah’s Fate, my short story in the Here, Kitty Kitty anthology and a prequel to Andromeda’s Fall.